Of Doorbells and Teapots
by ZombieOutlaw
Summary: A series of one-shots from the lives of William and Daisy.WARNING: COULD CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR SERIES TWO. 1 - "Friends?" Daisy asked hopefully. "More than that" William responded.


**Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, they are property of Carnival Films and Jullian Fellowes, I am merely playing them. I am not making any money from this and I promise to put them back when I have done.**

**Title: More Than That**

**Words: 1,843**

**Rating: T since it's a little dark**

**Parings: Daisy/William teeny tiny mentions of Mary/Matthew and Anna/Bates**

**Warnings: Contain spoilers for series 2**

October, 1917

Mrs Patmore had advised her not to break his heart knowing that he wont be coming back to Downton if she did and Daisy agreed with her completely but that's what made her so confused as to why she had rejected Williams proposal. She had told him that they need to slow this relationship down, it had only been six months since she had kissed him and although engagements usually happened in a lot less time and tendered to be quick, they were both young and the proposal was only spurred on by the looming war that William would have been entering the following day. She had heard stories of people marrying for money, loneliness, desperation, every since she left an unloving household she had always told herself that she will marry for love and solely that.

It wasn't that she didn't love William, in fact for all she knew, she did. Daisy was one of the unfortunate souls who didn't know what love was but one thing she did know was she felt strongly about him. As cliché as it sounded, she was constantly finding herself staring at him, she smiled when she saw him, she was in awe with is adorableness and most of all she admired his goodness, his ability to always be on the right side of an argument and was hardly ever blinded by his own feelings. In some ways she even envied him.

She just couldn't put her finger on why she had said no. William had no major flaws, he was hard working, going places and didn't have a single bad bone in his body. He was an ideal man. They would have been happy together, perhaps they would of had children and

maybe they would of lived in a cottage together, they could of gotten some horses that William want but mow all of this "life" they would of happened is merely a dream of what could have been.

That night she had said no she didn't talk to him after, she didn't even look at him. She didn't want to see the look on his face and be reminded of the pain she had cause him, she had felt bad enough as it was. She could remember it though, she can't remember a day that had gone by since he had left where she hadn't thought about it and that's what she was doing right then, thinking about his heartbroken face.

It was late one evening in early October, Daisy should have been in bed asleep about two hours previously, she'd had only a few "good night sleeps" (If you could call them that) since he had gone and that night certainly wasn't one of them. She was sitting in his seat at the table in the servants hall. In sounds pathetic but she didn't let anyone apart of her self sit in his chair, like she wanted to keep everything she had left of him to herself. The others had obeyed, understanding.

"Daisy?", Daisy was pulled out of her daydream and stood up startled by the sounds of Mrs Patmore entering the hall, " What are you doing up at this hour? You should be in bed."

"I'm-I'm sorry, I'll go on up now." She mumbled in response and started to make her way past Mrs Patmore who was stood in the doorway. Mrs Patmore had stopped her before she could pass her.

"I'll tell you what, you sit down and I'll fix us some tea and we will have a talk," Mrs Patmore yawned and begun to make her way into the kitchen. Daisy didn't feel up to talking to Mrs Patmore but she knew too well from experience not to disobey to cook. Before she knew it, Mrs Patmore had returned with two cups of steaming hot tea.

"This is about William, isn't it" Mrs Patmore asked taking the seat opposite Daisy at the table.

"How could you guess?" Daisy dryly muttered.

Mrs Patmore ignored her comment and looked at her with concerned eyes. Daisy was like a daughter to her and even though she was taking her anger out on her a lot, she loved her all the same. She hated to see her like this. "Daisy, answer me this: do you love him?"

Daisy, who had been staring at her untouched tea, looked up and met Mrs Patmore's eyes before bursting into tears. Mrs Patmore reached over and took her hand.

"Why don't you writing him a letter explain yourself, you'll regret it if something happens and you haven told him"

"He wont read it, he hates me" Daisy snuffled back.

Mrs Patmore sighed, "He could never hate you Daisy, he might have been mad at you but that lad loves you and will never stop. He'll be over the moon to know that you are thinking of him let alone a letter."

"Why did I say no?" Daisy looked up once more with weary eyes.

"I think you said no because you were afraid, afraid to get closer to him, scared to think you had a life together in case something happened to him. You can patch things up, just give it a try." With that Mrs Patmore stood up and walked towards a cupboard, opened it and from it drew a pen and paper and place it in front of the timed girl. I'll ask Mr Lang to go and post it tomorrow. Love aint easy you know, just look at Mary and Matthew or even Anna and Mr. Bates." And With that, she finished her cup of tea and ascended back up to her room.

She knew Mrs Patmore was right about why she said no. Surely there was no harm in writing to William and telling him the truth if he was already mad at her? Without another thought, Daisy cautiously picked up the pen and began to write.

January, 1918

Mr Carson was busy polishing the silver when he heard the back door bell ring, he immediately removed his gloves and apron and strolled to answer it. He got quite a shock when he realised who the visitor was, he'd only been gone eight months but the war had already changed him.

"William, Good to see you my lad, what brings you back to Downton?" Carson enquired still in shock of his new appearance.

"Er, I'm here to see Daisy, can I?" William quickly replied as if to save his embarrassment from growing even more.

Mr Carson took one last look at him before giving him an answer, "very well, follow me". Mr Carson lead William into the hallway before telling him to wait there while he fetched Daisy.

Mr Carson walked into the kitchen to Mrs Parsons yet again screaming at poor Daisy over various ingredients. Carson couldn't help but notice the look of relief on young Daisy's face when she saw him, Mrs Patmore saw this too and stopped shouting at the poor girl.

"What is it now? Does his Lordship changed his mind on what he wants for dinner again?"

"There's no need for that tone Mrs Patmore. Daisy, you have a visitor, he's waiting for you in the hall. I would suggest you go get changed, take your half-day now and go talk to him." Daisy cautiously glanced over to Mrs Patmore before quickly ascending the stairs to her room.

Mrs Patmore looked at Carson curiously, "Who on earth would want to talk to her?".

"William" Carson said quickly before leaving the room.

Even though it was only the servants hallway, William couldn't help but take a good look around, taking the place in, this was his home and he missed it dearly. He was busy looking at the cheap painting of a fruit bowl on the wall when he heard someone clear their throat behind him. He turned around to see Daisy wearing her Sunday best right there in front of him.

"We should go" Daisy mumbled not making eye contact and gesturing for the door.

"Oh yeah, sure. My dads out so the farm's free if you'd like to go there?" He asked nervously leading her out of the door. She followed him in silence to his childhood home, still not daring to look at him for more than a glance, she still felt guilty.

Daisy had only seen his house once but shed never been inside of it. To say he was a footman, his family had a fairly big home for a working class family, it wasn't anything fancy but there was something very homelike about it. Her old house was nothing like that at all. They had pictures and painting hung in the halls and the rooms were cozy and cluttered, nothing compared to Downton.

"Would you like some tea?" William asked while leading Daisy into the small kitchen. She nodded and took a seat in the middle of the room at a dining table -the cleanest part of the room. "Sorry 'bout the mess, My dad's not that tidy, my mum used to do all the cleaning."

When he was finished he sat down opposite her and gave her some tea. Only then did Daisy get a good look at him and she was shocked. He had changed drastically since she had last saw him, the most noticeable change was he was thinner, not that he wasn't thin before but now he had the look of a man that hadn't eaten in a few days. Also he had stubble, she had never seen him with facial hair ever, Carson made all the footmen shave everyday to prevent them looking scruffy, William actually sort of suited it. His hair wasn't gelled back as usual and wasn't neat. He had a look of sadness in his eyes, like something was missing, he wasn't the same. War had changed him and stolen his innocence.

"Did you mean what you said in your letter?" William nervously broke the silence playing with the cup in front of him.

With a sudden spurge of bravery, she stopped him playing with the cup and rested her hands on his. "I'm so sorry William. I was scared."

He nodded and they sat there in silence for the best part of five minutes just enjoying each others company, playing with each others hands, "Friends?" Daisy asked after a while.

"More than that" William responded and lent over the table the place a chaste kiss against Daisy's lips.

**Sorry its not that detailed and kinda rushed, I had to keep reminding myself that this was only a one shot and not a multi-chapter. I apologize.**


End file.
